


Rumours

by Burgie



Series: Backstage Pass AU [3]
Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 14:04:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7847965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louisa finds out about a rumour going around about Lisa and Josh, so Lisa does damage control.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rumours

Louisa didn’t usually check the tabloids. She knew that it was usually either something false or negative. Often both. But that didn’t stop her friends and family from reading and watching celebrity gossip.

 _“Louisa! Have you seen the news?”_ her best friend Maggie texted her one morning.

 _“No,”_ Louisa texted back. Maggie replied with a link to a website, and Louisa tapped on it with her thumb. It opened onto a page featuring the face of her beautiful girlfriend, but also another face.

“Not again,” said Louisa with a sigh.

“What is it?” asked Lisa, sitting up in bed beside her.

“Some gossip site says that you’re dating Josh,” said Louisa.

“It’s just a stupid rumour,” said Lisa.

“I know that but hardly anyone else does,” said Louisa.

“I’ll talk to my agent,” said Lisa. “He’ll deal with it.” She kissed her girlfriend’s cheek and then got out of bed to start the day.

Later that morning, Louisa sat next to Lisa in the living room of her current hotel suite. The rest of the band was gathered around them, though Josh looked a little nervous.

“I assume you’ve all seen the news,” said Lisa. She put a printout of the article on the coffee table. Everyone looked at it, though for Josh it was more of a glance.

“We all know that it’s false, Lise,” said Kyomi. She wasn’t a part of the band, but she was well-versed in public relationships and was also Lisa’s best friend. She was mostly just there for moral support, though.

“Yes, we do. But someone here should have tried to shut down those rumours,” said Lisa. She looked directly at the guilty party. “Josh, do you know who this anonymous source in the article is?”

“No,” said Josh, fiddling with his lip ring.

“I think you do,” said Louisa. She stood up. “What the hell, Josh, I thought we were friends!”

“We are,” said Josh.

“Then tell me the truth, Josh: did you tell the website that we’re dating?” asked Lisa.

“Fine, maybe I did,” said Josh. “But I can explain.”

“Go on. I’m listening,” said Lisa, folding her arms over her chest. Louisa sat back down beside her on the couch.

“Well, look, it’s risky to be a gay musician,” said Josh. “I just thought that maybe linking you to me might make things a little easier.”

“And make it look like I was hiding my sexuality from the world and using you to do that?” asked Lisa. “That just gives them more ammunition. But it’s too late now.”

“So how can we fix it?” asked Josh. Lisa threw a mobile phone at his chest, which he caught.

“You call that website and any other media outlets you went to and tell them that you lied,” said Lisa. “And then you apologise to my girlfriend for betraying her trust like that.”

“Sorry,” said Josh. 

“It’s not me you should be apologising to,” said Lisa. She got up and left the room, already dialling her agent. The others all made their excuses and left too, but Louisa and Josh stayed seated opposite each other on couches with the coffee table between them.

“I don’t know how the website believed you,” said Louisa, breaking the silence that had descended. “You’re a shit liar, Josh.”

“They believe anything you tell them,” said Josh. “But I guess I should’ve asked first.”

“You’re not stupid,” said Louisa. She blinked tears from her eyes. “You didn’t tell us because you didn’t want to. You made up those rumours and let everyone keep spreading them because you want everyone to think that you’re dating her. Because you’re not over her.”

“Dammit, how do you know all this stuff?” asked Josh.

“Because I pay attention,” said Louisa. She got up and walked back to the bedroom, unable to speak more around the lump in her throat.

At Lisa’s next show a few nights later, Louisa and Josh still hadn’t made up. Everyone was icy towards him, even Lisa. But Lisa was also acting a little strange, and she seemed particularly nervous before the show. Louisa sat backstage the whole time, trying to get through Donkey Kong 64 without her gaming buddy there to help her.

Towards the end of the show, Lisa pulled Louisa into her wardrobe.

“Put this on,” said Lisa, holding an outfit towards her. It was a blue hooded vest with fur on the hood, a black shirt, and dark blue jeans. There were also boots to be worn beneath it.

“What is it?” asked Louisa.

“I’m gonna let everyone know my secret,” said Lisa. She pressed a quick kiss to Louisa’s lips. “You.”

Louisa blushed and dressed quickly, then trembled as her hair and make up were touched up by the beautician who did the same to Lisa at every show. By the time she was standing backstage, her palms were sweaty and her heart was pounding. Lisa walked onto the darkened stage with her, holding her hand and giving her a reassuring smile. Louisa looked out over the crowd but then looked back at her girlfriend, comforted by the sight of her.

“Hello to all of my fans,” said Lisa when the lights came back up. A single spotlight shone on the two of them, and Louisa felt the heat and the weight of a thousand stares. She couldn’t hear the crowd over the pounding of her heart. “You may have heard the rumours, that I’m dating one of my band-mates. Well, while I do love them dearly, they don’t own my heart. This girl does. Her name is Louisa. And she is my girlfriend.”

Louisa felt like she was about to faint, but then Lisa wrapped her arms around her and kissed her. Louisa returned the gesture, holding onto Lisa. Everything else faded away, but Louisa was glad to hear the crowd cheering when she returned to earth.

“I love you,” Lisa murmured to her, away from the microphone.

“Love you too,” Louisa whispered back to her, and gave her one more kiss before escaping backstage. She heard Lisa saying something about her getting stage fright, and was grateful for it. She returned to the backstage room and laid down on the lounge, wanting only to rest.


End file.
